TOW The Revelations
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: Another Mondler one-shot taking place after TOW The Girl Who Hits Joey. I wanted to write my own account of how Ross, Rachel and Phoebe learn the details of Monica and Chandler's relationship. I never found a fic that didn't make it seem like everyone was being harsh, Ross was mad and it was just all about the sex. So...here's my take. Enjoy!


"Man, the Rangers suck," Chandler grumbled as he looked up at the scoreboard. The hockey team was down 4-0 and they weren't even out of the second period.

"I know," Ross said in Geller-like fashion. "They haven't played this bad in a long time."

Chandler nodded then glanced at his watch. Three hours. Not only had he not seen Monica in three hours, but Monica had spent the last three hours with Rachel and Phoebe being bombarded with questions about their relationship he had no doubt.

He'd just had the freak-out to end all freak-outs - asking Monica to marry him in front of all their friends just days earlier because he was cracking under the outside pressure pushing in on them. Thank God, he thought yet again, that their relationship had been a secret for as long as it had and Monica loved him as much as she did. They had needed that time so badly to get to where they were now. They hadn't needed the world to know. Joey knowing early on was enough, but then Rachel and Phoebe had found out and tried to trick them. He sighed, then grinned. That had actually turned out pretty well, until Ross tried to come barging into the apartment.

Ross.

He stole a quick glance at his best friend. Ross had seemed to accept him and Monica together, but he also knew Ross was going through a bad time all on his own. He'd known Ross had a bit of temper - it was a Geller trait, after all - but he hadn't seen his friend as perpetually angry as he had since London. It was ironic, really. He'd never been happier and he'd never seen Ross so, well, lost.

So when Joey had gotten a part in a play a few weeks back he offered the Rangers tickets he had for this night to Ross and Chandler because he would be in rehearsal. Chandler knew it would be good for Ross to get out and forget about everything for a while, so he'd readily agreed, not imagining for a minute what would transpire between agreement and game time.

"I think I need another beer," Ross said suddenly as the second period drew to a close. "Don't see anyone selling, wanna go up and get one?"

"Sure," Chandler said, thinking it would be good to stretch anyway. He glanced at his watch again.

"You got someplace to be, dude?" Ross asked a little harsher than he meant to.

"No," Chandler said quickly. "No…let's go get you that beer!"

Hummm…maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all, Chandler thought, as they made their way up to the concessions.

Girls night had been a great idea, Monica thought as she looked at Rachel and Phoebe in deep discussion about fashion as they sat in her living room. It was more of a debate really. The girls didn't exactly agree on clothing and it amused Monica to watch the back-and-forth. She'd missed this, just girl time. She looked up at the clock on the microwave. He'd be back in about two hours. Monica sighed. Yes, she'd missed hanging out with her girlfriends, but she missed him so much more.

"Oh, I know what that sigh means," Rachel said with a mischievous grin. Monica hadn't noticed that the fashion debate had wound down and both her friends were looking at her to lead the next topic of conversation - the only topic that either Rachel or Phoebe really cared about.

They had been patiently waiting all night for Monica to spill. They'd gotten a little from her when it was first all out in the open but then Chandler had freaked (of course, Rachel thought) and it never seemed to be a good time. Rachel was about to combust of curiosity and she knew Phoebe was just as intrigued, especially after what happened the other day.

Chandler had proposed to Monica. No, it wasn't the kind of proposal that every woman dreams of, but he hadn't run away either. Chandler - Chandler! - had actually gotten down on one knee and asked his girlfriend to marry him. It was crazy, of course, but also kinda sweet. Rachel had started to see a side to Mr. Sarcastic that she really had only gotten small glimpses of before and she was dying to know more.

"Someone's missing her boyfriend," Phoebe said, catching on to the teasing quickly. "And of all people, it's Chandler Bing…Chandler Bing!"

Monica sighed again. OK, it was time. She knew it had been coming all night. Part of her was dying to talk about this sweet, loving, sexy, smart, romantic, remarkable man who had swept her completely off her feet like no other. The other part of her was dreading the fact that she'd have to convince her two best friends that this was actually the case - with Chandler. She braced herself and took a deep breath.

"OK," she said. "What do you want to know?"

After waiting in line for a good ten minutes, Red Ross barely containing himself at the "terrible service," the guys made their way to a railing that went around the edge of the level they were on in the arena. Both men leaned down on their elbows watching the crowd below, beer bottles in hand. Chandler was tense. It was clear that Ross had something on his mind, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was. The silence was awkward and since that didn't sit well with Chandler…

"Man, look at those two wanks," he remarked, looking down at two very buff guys wearing nothing but jeans and very goofy, oversized, foam Rangers hats on their heads. Probably about 20 years old and looking ridiculous, Chandler thought.

"You know what I want to know?" Ross said, not even glancing at the two college kids. "How long? How long have you and Monica been, ya know, together, together?"

Chandler froze. Oh boy - here it was. No one had told Ross that he and Monica had hooked up at his & Emily's wedding. He glanced at the fans headed back to their seats on the level below him. Yep, too far down to jump, Chandler thought, and he'd definitely break something or die if Ross threw him over.

"Chandler?

He started to peel the label off his plastic beer bottle as he took a deep breath and answered.

"London."

Ross took a step back, a look of complete shock coming over his face.

London? At his wedding? His god-awful wedding in that godforsaken country? Seriously?

"What?" Ross shouted.

"It wasn't like what you think," Chandler said, turning to face Ross. He was nervous, but astonishingly calm and ready to defend himself and the beginning of the best relationship of his life. "Let me explain, before you kill me, please."

"It wasn't like that!" Monica said, getting more and more annoyed as Rachel and Phoebe fired questions at her. She'd made the mistake of sharing with them that she was looking for sex, just sex, and therefore looking for Joey at first that night in London. They had completely missed her point that she hadn't thought of Chandler first because he was being so sweet and gentlemanly that night to her that she just never thought of "meaningless" sex with him. Because, it wouldn't have been. And, it clearly hadn't been.

"But you said he was the best you'd ever had!" Rachel said, in disbelief.

"Yes, and that's the truth!" Monica shot back hotly. Fearing they'd "awakened the beast" both Phoebe and Rachel backed off. No one said anything for a while. Rachel stood, walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

Calming down a bit, Monica realized that while she wanted to share her relationship with Rachel and Phoebe she wanted to shield it, shield him. In that instant she missed the protective bubble of their secret love story more than ever.

As Rachel sat back down on the couch, Monica relaxed a little, deciding to just get to the heart of the matter. It was Chandler and that was the most difficult part for her friends to wrap their minds around.

"Look, I know it is hard for you to believe. I know that. If I was in your shoes I'd probably feel the same way. But he's, it's just … different, with me. It's beyond… well, description I guess," Monica giggled softly. "It's not just that the sex is good. It's, I don't know, on this whole other level. I'm sorry…I can't…"

Monica stopped. Her eyes had started to tear up. How could she put her heart into words?

Phoebe and Rachel looked at each other and then at their friend, each thinking the same thing. Monica really was passionately, completely in love with Chandler.

"He's the sweetest man on Earth," Monica whispered, wiping at her eyes and looking away from her friends. "The person you see is the same one I saw when we were just friends. And he's still that person. He makes crazy jokes, and he still can annoy the crap out of me. But…but then he can just look at me or hold me or smile and I…."

"Oh Mon," Rachel said, tears in her own eyes as Monica choked on her words again. She and Phoebe both reached out for their friend. Rachel couldn't deny that she had seen something in Chandler when he dated Kathy that she had never seen before. She and Monica had even talked about it once, how eager Chandler was to please Kathy and make the relationship work. And now, he was trying so hard that he'd actually proposed the other day. To Monica.

Suddenly Rachel realized that the fact that Chandler and Monica were together really wasn't that surprising after all.

Rachel smiled at her best friend and said softly, "he's really always had that effect on you, you know."

Monica looked up then as Phoebe nodded.

"He's always been able to make you smile," Phoebe said, giving Monica's hand a squeeze. "And, really, I'm not at all surprised that the sex has been great from the beginning. You've been lovers before."

"What?" Monica and Rachel both said, giving Phoebe shocked expressions.

"Not in this life…" Phoebe said as she rolled her eyes, slightly exasperated.

Monica laughed as the tears now made their way down her face. They understood, she thought, maybe not everything, but enough. The three friends hugged each other tight.

"Well, there is one thing I can tell you," Monica said playfully, as the hug broke up and she wiped her eyes. She sensed the fun and silly part of the discussion was ready to start. "That first night we did it seven times - and I'm not even kidding!"

"What?" Rachel and Phoebe shrieked in unison, leaning forward on the couch, anxious for more.

"You have got to be kidding," Ross said, incredulous. "I cannot believe…"

"Ross!" Chandler said with enough force to get his friend's attention.

Once Chandler started talking he really couldn't stop and all Ross could do was listen in stunned silence. Chandler told him about their Mom making Monica crazy at the rehearsal dinner. How he'd tried to calm her down and get her to get some sleep "in her own hotel room, without me," he emphasized. But then she'd shown up at his and kissed him and it had just … happened. And while he thought it was somewhat crazy at the time it never once felt wrong.

Chandler told him of how they'd planned to leave it all behind them when they got home and then realized that they couldn't. In fact, he told Ross, it was like they were making up for lost time - like they should have been together from the beginning.

Ross listened as Chandler kept speaking and he almost forgot for a moment that Chandler was talking about his little sister. All that struck Ross was the…love in Chandler's voice when he talked about Monica. He ended up enraptured in the story of clandestine meetings and fear that it would all fall apart if the relationship was found out. He told him about their awful trip to Atlantic City, which made Ross chuckle a little, which in turn made Chandler relax a bit more admit to Monica's bother all her felt for her.

"Before I knew it we were in a relationship," Chandler finally said quietly, before taking a sip of the forgotten beer in his hand. "Before I knew it, Ross, I was in love with her. That's why the other day…God what an idiot I am! I just…I never want to lose her…."

Chandler stopped then, looking over the railing one more time before downing the rest of his beer.

"She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met in my life, Ross." he said. "I think maybe a part of me always loved her."

Ross was quiet for a long time. His mind was working overtime, processing everything his friend had said, thinking of Monica and Chandler and their relationship before all of this. There was no denying they had been close, Ross thought. He remembered being happy and somewhat relieved when Chandler first moved in across the hall from Monica. He knew Chandler would be there for his little sister if she needed him. He knew he cared.

Finally Ross took one last swig and then tossed his bottle in the trash. He looked at Chandler and slapped him on the back.

Chandler looked up from what had become a very interesting beer bottle label to find Ross smiling at him. It was the first real smile he'd seen from him in a long time.

"I'm really happy for you, man" Ross said.

"Really?" Chandler said. He was practically giddy.

"Yeah. I can't imagine my sister dating a better guy than my best friend," Ross said. "I'm really happy for you both. I guess something good came out of meeting Emily after all."

Chandler chuckled, surprised a little at that.

"Thanks, man. I'm happy for me, too," he smiled, patting Ross' shoulder. "So, ah, wanna head back to our seats?"

Ross glanced at the scoreboard. Chandler's eyes followed. It was 6-0.

"Nah," Ross said. "Let's head back. Just don't tell Joey!"

Knowing it was breaking a Joey-rule to ever leave any sporting event early, Chandler nodded and said "No problem, man."

The two men headed down the stairs and out into the late winter night.

"Swing dancing?" Phoebe said in shock.

"Yep!"

"I cannot believe it!" Rachel said, laughing at the thought of Chandler and Monica on the dance floor.

Suddenly the door to the apartment opened and Ross and Chandler came in. Both men had smiles on their faces as they looked at the girls.

"Hey," Monica said, as she bounced up from her seat and made a bee-line for Chandler. "Rangers win?"

"Ah, no," he said as he pulled her close to him and gave her a quick kiss.

"Yeah, they were down 6-0 so we bailed - don't tell Joey!" Ross said. There were murmurs of agreement all around. Ross looked at his watch. "It's still pretty early, anyone want to grab some coffee?"

The three glanced at the couple, who looked like they no longer noticed anyone but each other in the room.

"Yeah," Rachel said, motioning for Phoebe to come along.

Phoebe glanced at Monica and Chandler and smiled. "Bye, guys."

"Bye" they both half-waved to their friends.

Ross, Rachel and Phoebe went into the hall, all of them anxious to share whatever the other had found out about the couple during the course of the evening.

"Oh, wait, I forgot my purse," Rachel said as she headed back into the apartment to grab her purse off the coffee table.

Chandler and Monica had already made their way into her bedroom, but the door was still open and Rachel couldn't help but overhear…

"…not too bad," she heard Monica say. "Phoebe thinks we were lovers in another life."

"Really?" she heard Chandler respond. What she heard next made Rachel grin from ear to ear.

"Well, I don't know about other lives…" Chandler said.

She heard Monica shriek with surprise. "Chandler!" Monica said, laughing. "Put me down!"

"…but in this life, you're gonna get some good lovin' right now!"

She heard Monica giggle as the bedroom door shut with a bag.

At that Rachael snatched her purse and left the apartment.

The night had been quite a revelation, she thought.

But yeah, now, she understood perfectly.


End file.
